


a song written easily

by intothewoodz



Category: Produce 101 (TV), X1 (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, M/M, Strangers to Lovers, dohyon is only there for 5 seconds in the beginning, i'm still bad at tags what do i even put, ryeonseung are music producers, weishin are present for one short scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:00:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23486452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/intothewoodz/pseuds/intothewoodz
Summary: When Dohyon points out that Seungyoun only writes sad songs, he finds himself in a slump and can't seem to figure out why he can't write a happy melody to save his life. That is, until Seungwoo comes into the picture and shows him that all he really needed was a good source of inspiration.
Relationships: Cho Seungyeon | Seungyoun/Han Seungwoo
Comments: 6
Kudos: 50





	a song written easily

**Author's Note:**

> hellooo! welcome to my first attempt at ryeonseung!
> 
> the title and idea for this fic came from oneus's latest comeback (plz go check it out, they are my very talented babies whom i love very much) honestly i was working on a few other fics, but when i thought of the idea, i dropped everything else to write this instead lol
> 
> also disclaimer: im not entirely sure about the logistics of what music producers do, so please bear with me if it's not very plausible T^T

“Seungyoun-hyung, why are all the songs you write so depressing?” Dohyon asks upon listening to the newest song Seungyoun just finished. To be honest, he was hoping for a compliment and for this to be his first feedback on the song is a little bit disheartening for Seungyoun.

“Do you not like it, Dohyon-ah?”

“No, I like it. It’s a really good song, but you just write so many sad, breakup songs. Are _you_ sad, hyung?”

“I’m perfectly happy,” Seungyoun laughs in response. “And I don’t know what you’re talking about, they’re not _all_ sad.”

Dohyon just gives him a pointed look and Seungyoun thinks back to his entire discography. _Different is admittedly a sad song, but there’s…. there’s…_ He realizes that he really can’t remember the last time he wrote a song with a fully happy message. “Oh my god, Dohyon, you’re right. I only write sad songs.”

“Yeah,” Dohyon rolls his eyes. “I literally just said that.”

“Sorry, Dohyonnie” he chuckles. “Are you hungry? I’ll treat you.”

The way Dohyon’s eyes light up at the mere mention of food is adorable and Seungyoun feels his heart warm. He decides to temporarily push aside his thoughts about songwriting and revisit it later. It was time for a break anyway.

“Come on then, let’s go,” he calls as he gathers his things and Dohyon wordlessly follows.

* * *

A few days later, Seungyoun is back in his studio trying to start on a new project, but inspiration is nowhere to be found. Ever since Dohyon brought up how he only writes sad songs, he can’t help but dwell on it.

Seungyoun is not unhappy, or at least he doesn’t think he is. Sure, he hasn’t been in a relationship for a while and his last one didn’t end particularly well, but he’s long since gotten over it. Even though he’s not dating, he’s surrounded by a lot of good friends and hangs out with them frequently. He has a stable job doing what he loves. When he considers everything, he would say his life is going pretty well. He doesn’t have any reason to be unhappy. So why is it that now he can’t write a happy melody or lyrics to save his life?

He sighs in frustration for about the hundredth time today and decides to work on some of his old stuff instead. He doesn’t have much left to do and most of them are nearly done, but he might as well work on cleaning them up and finishing them, since he hasn’t been making any progress with anything new.

When he gets home, he flops down on the couch, grabs the nearest pillow, and screams into it. Despite the pillow muffling his scream, he seems to have alerted his roommate, who walks out into the living room, boyfriend in tow.

“What’s up with you?” asks Wooseok walking over to the couch to join Seungyoun, dragging Jinhyuk behind him.

“Oh, hey,” Seungyoun says. “I didn’t know you guys were here.”

“Well, we are here. And witnessed, or well, heard you scream into a pillow, so… you wanna tell us something?” prompts Jinhyuk.

“I’ve just been in a slump these few days. I have absolutely zero inspiration,” he complains. “I don’t know what to do anymore.”

“Well, stressing out about it isn’t gonna help,” Wooseok replies coldly. “Besides, it’s only been a few days, I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

Seungyoun has known Wooseok long enough to understand that his nonchalance and the lack of concern in his tone are meant as comfort, or at least he thinks, but if Seungyoun is being honest, those aren’t the words he wanted to hear right now.

“It’s not like I’m _trying_ to stress about it, but it just really bothers me,” Seungyoun complains.

“Well, maybe you just need to do something fun that’ll spark some ideas. We should all go out this weekend!” Jinhyuk suggests and Seungyoun is suddenly grateful to have met him through Wooseok. _This_ is the type of comfort he needs.

“Really? Are you guys free?” asks Seungyoun excitedly.

“Yeah, it’ll be fun!” Jinhyuk replies enthusiastically while Wooseok simply gives a nod of confirmation. Still, Seungyoun thinks he’s really lucky to have such great friends.

“I’ll text the others too!” Seungyoun responds, pulling out his phone to message their group chat with the rest of their friends, suddenly in a much better mood than before.

_We’ll all go out for drinks and have a great time and then I’ll write a happy, upbeat song about it. This is gonna work._

_…Right?_

* * *

Over the weekend, Seungyoun had a great time. He was able to catch up with Hangyul and a few of their friends who he hasn’t seen much recently since they’ve all been busy. Hanging out with them all made him genuinely happy, but as he goes to work, he somehow still doesn’t have a good feeling about it.

When he gets to his studio, he lights a candle in an attempt to set some sort of mood that might help ideas flow better. No luck.

He ends up staring at the ceiling, mind as blank as ever, and he doesn’t know what to do anymore. He settles on taking a walk around the building, hoping some movement will jumpstart his brain, even though it hasn’t proven successful so far. In fact, with how many times he’s circled these halls recently, he probably has every last inch of the floor plan memorized. It doesn’t stop him from trying again though, hoping that this time will be different, so he leaves his studio once again.

As he walks down the hall, he sees the vending machine and wonders if a snack might help. Maybe it’s just hunger that’s blocking his inspiration. He decides to buy himself a bag of chips, but watches in dismay as it gets stuck. _Not even the vending machine wants to work with me. Why is nothing going right?_

“Why are you doing this to me?” he yells at the machine, repeatedly hitting it to vent his frustrations. He continues to wallow in his own despair until he hears a voice from behind him.

“Um, I don’t think that’s very nice to the vending machine,” the stranger comments.

“Well, it stole my money, so I don’t think it was very nice to me either,” Seungyoun retorts petulantly, too preoccupied with his frustrations to think about what he’s saying.

“I’m sorry, in that case, please resume your revenge,” the stranger laughs, clearly amused by Seungyoun’s childish pouting.

For the first time since he arrived, Seungyoun actually looks up at the other party and is captivated by how beautiful he is. Objectively speaking, he’s just a gorgeous human being. And yet, Seungyoun let this handsome stranger witness him acting like a small child throwing a tantrum at an inanimate object. _The universe is really not on my side today, huh?_

“S-sorry about that,” Seungyoun mumbles in embarrassment.

“I think the vending machine is the one you should be apologizing to,” the stranger jokes, as he reaches out a hand. “I’m Han Seungwoo. I just started working here recently.”

“Cho Seungyoun. I promise I don’t normally abuse vending machines, I just, um, I—” he stutters, struggling to form a coherent sentence.

“Had a rough day?” the stranger, Seungwoo, suggests.

“More like a rough week,” Seungyoun sighs. “I haven’t been able to write a single note or lyric or anything.”

“Maybe a change of scenery might spark some inspiration,” Seungwoo responds. “How about I treat you to coffee at that café across the street?”

Seungyoun needs a moment to process what he heard because he’s finding it hard to believe that the super attractive guy he just met and embarrassed himself in front of is asking him to coffee. “Um, what?”

“I’m sorry, was that too forward? I’ll let you get back to your studio, if you need to do.”

“No!” Seungyoun yells, a little bit too strongly. “No, I mean— sorry, um, I just wasn’t expecting that, but I’d love to get coffee with you.” He feels his face getting hotter and can only imagine how red his face must be from embarrassment, but somehow Seungwoo doesn’t seem to mind.

“That’s a relief,” Seungwoo responds. “I would’ve been sad if you said no. You’re really cute.”

Seungyoun blushes even harder at the compliment. “You can’t just casually say things like that,” he whines, averting his gaze to the ground.

“Why? Don’t have a lot of people telling you how cute you are?” he teases.

“No, especially not people like you.”

“People like me?” he asks with a smirk. “What am I like?”

“Don’t make me say it,” Seungyoun pouts, but Seungwoo continues to look at him expectantly.

“I really don’t know what you mean. Please enlighten me.”

“I have a feeling you _do_ know. You’re just really...” he pauses before quietly muttering, “really attractive and it makes me nervous.”

“I take back what what I said before. You’re not just cute, you’re _adorable_ ,” Seungwoo chuckles in response. “Come on, let’s go so I can buy you that coffee.”

Still embarrassed and afraid that he’ll just make more of a fool of himself if he tries to speak again, Seungyoun just nods and wordlessly follows as Seungwoo leads him out of the building.

The walk to the coffee shop is mostly silent, but not uncomfortable. Seungyoun takes this time to try and get his heartbeat back down to a normal rate. Admittedly, it’s the first time someone has tried to flirt with him in a long time and with that someone being as handsome as Seungwoo, he can’t help but get easily flustered. Still, he hopes it’s not _too_ noticeable that he’s extremely out of practice.

After his last relationship ended badly, Seungyoun never felt the need to actively search for someone else. It’s not that he was ever against dating, but he wasn’t particularly interested in anyone and it was just never something that he prioritized. Yet somehow, it feels different with Seungwoo, like he’s awakened some sort of desire that he hadn’t felt in ages.

Seungyoun only just met him and he doesn't know what exactly it is that he’s drawn to, whether it’s the beautiful curve of his nose, the teasing but kind lilt of his voice, or something else entirely, but what Seungyoun does know is that he wants to know _more._ He wants to _know_ Han Seungwoo.

Before he even realizes, the two reach the café and Seungwoo holds the door open, signaling for him to enter first. A perfect gentleman, through and through.

“What’s your order?” Seungwoo asks. “You can sit down first while I grab our drinks.”

“Wait, it’s okay. You don’t have to pay for me,” Seungyoun replies.

“But I _want_ to,” he insists with a warm smile. “I already told you I’d treat you.”

“Then, I guess I’ll have an iced Americano,” he smiles gratefully. “Thank you.”

Seungyoun finds an empty table near the window and takes a seat. While he waits, he finds himself watching Seungwoo’s silhouette, but when the other turns around and catches him staring, he quickly turns his attention towards the window instead.

Staring outside, he gets lost in a daze, thoughts returning to his music. Even though he knows it hasn’t actually been that long, he’s not used to the feeling of his brain not swirling with new melodies and ideas. Music has been his passion for as long as he can remember and he usually has so many ideas that he can’t get them all down in time, so he’s at a loss of what to do in this situation.

He’s only snapped out of his thoughts by Seungwoo placing his drink in front of him as he takes a seat opposite him. “You seem deep in thought.”

“Sorry, I zoned out for a minute there,” Seungyoun replies. “Thank you again for the coffee.”

“Don’t mention it. I was the one who invited you, so it’s only right that I pay.”

“Still, I feel bad. Next time, I’ll treat you to something.”

“Oh, already thinking about next time, huh?” Seungwoo teases.

Seungyoun finds himself blushing again, rushing to explain himself. “I just meant that, um, we’ll probably see each other around at the company, and um, I should pay you back for this, and—”

“You’re so cute when you get flustered,” Seungwoo chuckles and Seungyoun glares at him for it. “Sorry, sorry, I promise I’ll stop.”

“You better,” Seungyoun pouts, taking a sip of his coffee. “You said you started working at the company recently, right? How did you end up here?”

After Seungyoun gets over his initial nervousness, conversation between the two of them flows rather smoothly. He finds out that Seungwoo is two years older than him and worked as a vocal trainer for a while before deciding he wanted to focus on music production, leading him to apply to their current company.

They talk about anything and everything, starting with music and their favorite genres and artists to listen to, but somehow transition into talking about the most random things, even exchanging their wildest college stories.

“Ah, but you seemed really troubled earlier,” Seungwoo comments. “Do you wanna talk about it?”

“I’ve just never really had a slump like this before,” Seungyoun answers. “I know it doesn’t seem like a long time, but music is the one thing in my life that’s always been constant and it feels weird not having any new ideas. I don’t know what to do.”

Seungwoo hums in consideration. “Do you have any idea what caused it?”

“Actually, I might know... I was showing my junior the stuff I’d been working on and he pointed out how I’ve only been writing sad songs. When I realized he was right, I tried to come up with something happier and I’ve had a mental block ever since,” Seungyoun explains, sighing in frustration.

"I guess for me, I tend to get a lot of ideas from looking at art and photography, but do you usually write just based off your own experience?”

“Now that I think about it, a lot of my songs do reflect parts of my life, but I only wrote about my past relationships and breakups because certain lyrics or melodies happened to come to mind. I got over them a long time ago and what confuses me is that I’m _not_ unhappy. I swear!” Seungyoun insists, as if he’s expecting Seungwoo not to believe him. “I’m honestly really content with where I am right now, so I don’t get why my mind is so blank when I try to write something that isn’t sad and depressing.”

“Maybe it’s just because you’re trying to force it too much?” Seungwoo suggests. “It sounds like you usually just go with whatever idea pops into your head first, so now that you’re consciously trying to think of things, it’s not natural anymore.”

“That’s true,” Seungyoun agrees. “But then what am I supposed to do?”

“Honestly, there’s nothing wrong with writing sad songs, if that’s what your instinct is telling you to do and it doesn’t have to mean anything. As long as you _are_ happy, then isn’t that all that matters?”

“That… actually makes a lot of sense. You’re so wise, Seungwoo-ssi,” Seungyoun comments in admiration.

“I think you’re exaggerating,” Seungwoo laughs. “And just call me hyung. I know we technically only met today, but we did just spend over an hour getting to know each other, so I think it’s safe to drop the formalities.”

“Okay, Seungwoo-hyung,” Seungyoun responds. “But I didn’t realize so much time had passed, maybe we should head back.”

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. This was fun though.”

“Are you sure it was fun for you, hyung? I feel like I just made you listen to all my problems.”

“I enjoyed it, Seungyoun-ah,” Seungwoo responds, and, despite remaining calm for almost the entirety of their conversation, the way he says Seungyoun’s name so fondly makes the blush return to his face once again.

The two of them walk back to the company building side by side, once again not saying much. When they enter the building, it’s time to part ways so that they can head to their respective studios, but Seungyoun doesn’t want it to end yet. Even though they were together for almost two hours, it felt like it passed in a single minute.

“Seungyoun,” Seungwoo calls, snapping Seungyoun out of his thoughts. “Can I give you my number? You can call me if you ever want a second opinion on a song or if you need another coffee break.”

After a short moment of shock, Seungyoun silently hands the other man his phone to signify his agreement. Honestly, he still hasn’t completely come to terms with the fact that an extremely attractive stranger treated him to coffee and willingly listened to him ramble about his problems and now he’s asking for his number too? He definitely needs a moment to process this.

Seungwoo hands his phone back and adds, “It was really nice meeting you, Seungyoun-ah. Hopefully, I’ll see you around soon.”

“Yeah,” Seungyoun nods dumbly in response. “Thank you for today, hyung.”

When Seungyoun gets back to his studio, he’s still in a bit of a daze. No matter how many times he thinks about it, it just doesn’t make sense. Seungwoo is so perfect and the fact that all their time together passed in what felt like an instant makes Seungyoun doubt if it even happened. It almost felt like he was just dreaming. _Wait, dreaming, huh?_

He quickly opens a new file on his computer and starts typing.

_I feel like, I feel like I live in a dream_

_I want our time to pass slower like in a dream_

* * *

Over the course of the next few weeks, Seungyoun and Seungwoo start hanging out a lot. It started with a few texts here and there and they naturally just started talking more. A week after their first meeting, Seungyoun keeps his word by treating Seungwoo to coffee and soon it becomes their thing. They don’t always go to the café, sometimes just getting the cheap coffee from the vending machine and hanging out in the hallway or in one of their studios when one of them needs a break. Still, Seungyoun finds that even if they’re in the least remarkable of places doing nothing particularly fascinating, being with Seungwoo makes him love it regardless.

_Being with you, everything is good_

_Whenever, wherever, whatever, however_

Before he knows it, Seungyoun is nearly finished with a new song and this time it isn’t sad at all. He texts Seungwoo to ask if he’s free to come listen to it and within minutes, Seungwoo is knocking on the door to his studio.

“Hey,” he waves in greeting. “You finished that song pretty quickly, huh?”

“Yeah, I’ve been working on pieces of it here and there, but honestly, this song was surprisingly easy to write,” he comments before excitedly adding, “And guess what, hyung!!!”

All the snippets that Seungyoun had been showing Seungwoo recently were from other projects. He wanted this one to be a surprise, purposely never letting the other hear any of it, so he wouldn’t have an idea of what to expect.

“What is it, Seungyoun-ah?” Seungwoo responds, chuckling at the other acting like an overexcited puppy.

“It’s not sad this time!! I finally wrote a happy song!!” he shouts with so much pride and enthusiasm that it makes Seungwoo laugh even more.

“I’m proud of you, Youn,” Seungwoo praises. “How’d you end up getting over your artist’s block?”

“You were right, hyung. I just had to let it come naturally.”

“Let’s hear it, then.”

Honestly, Seungyoun is a bit, maybe slightly more than a bit, nervous at the prospect of having Seungwoo listen to the song he wrote about him. He watches Seungwoo’s face carefully for any sign of a reaction but, much to Seungyoun’s annoyance, he maintains a perfect poker face throughout.

He tries to focus on the screen instead, but finds his gaze repeatedly drifting back towards Seungwoo. As he continues to sneak glances at him, he can’t help but be reminded once again of the lyrics he inspired.

_You’re a beautiful painting,_

_Being together with you is a dream_

When the song finishes, Seungyoun looks at Seungwoo expectantly, hoping for a good response. Seungwoo maintains his neutral expression for a moment before breaking out into a wide smile. “Seungyoun, the song is really good. I think it’s one of the best you’ve shown me.”

“Really, hyung? You’re not just saying that, right?”

“Yes, I promise. I _really_ like it.”

“Thanks, hyung,” Seungyoun says, blushing a little bit. It’s not the first time Seungwoo has complimented his music, but this time is different.

“Did you have someone in mind when you wrote it?” Seungwoo asks. “It sounds like they were some pretty good inspiration.”

“Yeah, you were,” Seungyoun responds without hesitation.

For what is probably the first time in the whole span of them knowing each other, it’s Seungwoo’s turn to be flustered. “W-wait, me?”

“Yeah, the first line came to me the day I met you,” Seungyoun explains. “Everything in it it is about you, hyung.”

“Then, I’m glad I was helpful,” Seungwoo smiles, swiveling his chair around so that they’re directly facing each other. His eyes dart down to Seungyoun’s lips and then back up at him, as if asking for permission.

As an answer, Seungyoun leads forward and closes the distance between them. He feels Seungwoo lean into the contact and the warm press of his lips against his just feels so _right._

Seungyoun is the one who pulls away first, but he’s met with a questioning look from Seungwoo when he does.

“Hyung, can you pinch me?” he asks in response. “I need to make sure I’m not dreaming.”

“You’re so cute,” Seungwoo laughs, pinching Seungyoun’s cheeks.

“Ah, hyung! That hurts!” Seungyoun whines as he starts pouting.

“You were the one who asked for it!” he retorts, but leans over to kiss the pout off of Seungyoun’s face anyway.

“If sulking gets me more kisses, maybe I should do it more often,” Seungyoun jokes.

“I can’t believe my boyfriend is exploiting me for kisses.”

“B-boyfriend?” Seungyoun stutters. Hearing Seungwoo suddenly refer to him as his “boyfriend” catches him off-guard, but also makes him inexplicably happy.

“If that’s what you want,” Seungwoo adds hesitantly.

“I do. I really _really_ want that,” Seungyoun answers, earning him a relieved smile from Seungwoo.

“Well then, _boyfriend,_ since I technically helped you write this song, when you get paid from it, you should use the money to take me out to dinner.”

“Hyung, we’ve only been dating for a minute and now you’re trying to exploit me for my money?” he jokes, putting his hand over his heart and pretending to be hurt.

“I’ll repay you in kisses.”

“Okay, hyung,” he answers with laugh. “It’s a date.”

“Promise?”

“If you don’t trust my word, then let’s seal it with a kiss.”

“Why do I feel like you’re just trying to get more kisses?” Seungwoo chuckles, but indulges him anyway, leaning in for a quick peck.

When they pull apart, they both burst into wide smiles, staring at each other fondly like idiots in love.

_Looking at each one another, we fall deeper_

_Into that emotion called love_

**Author's Note:**

> if you made it here, thank you for reading and i hope you enjoyed it!!!
> 
> the lyrics are very rough (probably slightly inaccurate) translations of snippets from dream!
> 
> also i've found that i have a tendency to write youn as a flustered blushing mess bc even though he's hyungline in x1 he's been my baby since uniq days and that will never change
> 
> i would really appreciate it if you left a comment to let me know what you thought! or come be my friend on twitter @wooloodz but thank you again for reading!!!


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